Understanding Amazon’s Algorithm to Improve Your SERP Rankings

Amazon uses the A10 Algorithm to rank search results for its customers. It applies specific factors to determine your product’s value. These include:

• Relevancy: Again, Amazon is hyper-focused on inspiring a sale. To gain relevance, products need to be keyword-rich and inspire purchases after appearing on the SERP.
• Purchase Intent: Amazon wants its customers’ searches to end in a sale. Therefore, if a listing has more purchases, it will likely rank toward the top of the search engine results page (SERP) for the keywords it targets.

However, the Algorithm isn’t just looking at raw sales; it’s analyzing conversion rates for specific keywords. Success lies in understanding how you can use that insight to your advantage.

Finding Keywords

Keyword optimization is at the heart of every effort to improve SERP rankings. There are three primary ways to identify the search terms most likely to result in a sale of your product.  

• Go Low-Tech: Try using different Amazon search terms to see which ones your competitors rank well for. This can indicate which keywords are most relevant.  
• Amazon Research Tools: These tools specifically target Amazon SERPs and are your best option for identifying which terms are working for competitors, which have the highest search volume, and which are the most competitive.
• Google Rankings: Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to check overall keyword search volume and difficulty data.  

Keyword Placement

Once you find the right keywords, there are three places the algorithm looks to determine whether your listings are keyword-optimized:

• Bulleted Features List: Every product listing should have a bulleted list of features that is rich in keywords. This list can show the algorithm that the product’s features are relevant to its customer’s inquiry.  
• Product Descriptions: Inserting keywords into the product description is another indicator to Amazon’s algorithm that your listing is relevant to a search query. It’s good practice to include at least 10 or 20 relevant keywords in the description.
• Titles: Include as many keywords in your titles as possible without them turning into an incoherent word salad. As a guide, your titles should follow this pattern: “Brand; Product line; Material/Key feature; Product type; Color; Size; Package quantity.” For example: “Amazon Essentials Men’s Regular-Fit Short-Sleeve Blue Floral Medium Shirt”

Price Competitively

Your primary weapon in the battle to get your products to sell more is price. If you want to optimize your product pricing, follow these guidelines:

• Account for your costs and fees: After considering how much it costs you to stock your product and ship it to your customers, your pricing should ensure you maintain a profit. You’ll also need to consider fees from Amazon, including Amazon Marketplace charges and the fee to keep your Seller Account open. Once you have the total of those operational costs, you can then find an appropriate price for your product. ‍
• Consider your brand: Are you positioning your product as a premium product, or the best value? Whichever it is, you want your pricing to remain relatively uniform throughout your product catalog to show customers they can get the same level of value and quality with all your products. ‍
• Look at your competition: You don’t want customers to completely discount your product because pricing seems unrealistically expensive compared to your competitors. Unless your product compensates with outstanding quality, you will likely need to lower your prices.  ‍
• Be flexible: While it may be tempting to double down on consistent prices, markets are constantly changing. Consider automating your pricing with Amazon’s Automate Pricing tool so you can easily adjust to pricing trends.

Sales Velocity

Sales velocity, which measures how well your products convert within a set timeframe compared to other products, is considered an indirect yet high impact ranking factor. Amazon recommends the following:

• Maintaining positive reviews on your products (above a 4.5 average)
• Utilizing Amazon ad space effectively
• Using only high-quality images in your listings
• Promoting products with special deals
• Optimizing fulfillment with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)

Mastering Amazon’s Algorithm comes down to understanding how relevancy, pricing, and sales performance intertwine. By targeting the right keywords, optimizing your listings, and staying competitive with pricing and promotions, you can steadily improve both your rankings and conversions.